René, [Lat. Renatus,] of Anjou, Duke of Anjou and Lorraine, King of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily, and Count of Provence, etc., called "the good King René," was born in 1409.  He was a son of Louis II., Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence.  He succeeded his brother, Louis III., in 1434, and by the will of Queen Joanna, who died in 1435, he became heir to the throne of Naples.  This throne, however, was claimed by Alfonso or Aragon, who drove René out of Naples in 1442 and remained master of that kingdom.  René was an ally of Charles VII. of France in his war against the English.  He found recreation in art and literature; he was a poet, and is said, on doubtful authority, to have been a painter and sculptor.  His daughter Margaret was the wife of Henry VI. of England.  He died in 1480.  Four quarto volumes of his works have been published. (Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, Thomas, 1915)